Yoke



' Aug. 30, 1932.

H. J. LOUNSBURY YOKE Origihal Filed Feb. 13, 1928 Patented Aug. 30, 1932 UNITED YP TE HARVEY J. LouNsBURY, or GLEN OA'FFICE'I "ELLYN, mirrors; ASSIGNOR-TO w. H. MINER, mm, or

I ,c IcaGo, ILLIiTdiS, A CORPORATION or DELAWARE (I Original application filed February"'i3, i92 "sriai mfasasvs." Divided Seiiteniber12f1929.

:' prevent drooping of the coupler head.

Another object of theinvention is to provide-a yoke ofthecharactef indicated especially designed for railway draft. r1ggings wherein the coupler has greater "travel n buff than in draft.

A further object of the invention is to provide a yoke member having means for supporting the coupler shank of a coupler member of a railway draftrigging, so that the coupler shank parts inwardly of the point of clearly appear from the description and claim hereinafter following.

In the drawing, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a longitudinal, vertical sectional View through the underframe structure of a railway car illustrating my improved yoke in connection therewith. Figure 2 is a plan View of the yoke proper, the forward end portion of the same being shown in the horizontal section. And Figure 3 is a vert cal, transverse sectional view corresponding substantially to the line 33 of Figure 2. In said drawing, 10 indicates one of the draft sills of the car underframe structure, it being understood that two spaced draft sills are employed. The rear stop cast- I, and this application fi led seiiairro. 393,021.

--ing of the railway draft rigging is indicated by 11,the same being in the form of the usual filler casting located at the body bolster of the car. This casting has top and bottom arms 1212, the frontend faces of which form the stop members proper. The two stop arms 121 2 are so spaced verticallyas to provide a combined guide and support for the rear end of my improved horizontal yoke a indicated generally by the reference charac ter A. "At the end of the car, the sills 10 are provided with the usual slots for the coupler .key 14-. The-frontstops of the draft rigging are provided by an. upper casting Band a lower casting C riveted to the sills. Said upper casting'B has afront vertical end wall 17 adapted to act as ant-end plate; a horizontal ,w'etis, asecond horizontal :web 19 downwardlyoifset from the web 18, and a' vertical aweb .20 constituting the upper :stop' proper, said web 20.:being reinforced by a'horizontal flange 21: The lower'castingfG comprises a horizontitlbottom wall or web 22-andja ver- -ticallyextending web23. constituting the lower front stop proper, said-web 23lbeing suitably reinforced by strengthening flanges i a, In connection'with the yoke A I employ a standard couplenD; a-front follower E; a

- generally'bythe reference character F. i The follower E and device F are suitably sup port- 'ed in 'foperati'veposition by detachable saddle =plates 2.5'25,.' j .The.yoke A; is of --for e? mentioned, the 'sidemembers 2626' thereof being integrally united at their front ends'byl aboX-li-ke section having side walls U27 27,a bottom wall 28 and a top wall 29.

The box-like section forms the head member 5 of the'yoke. which is adapted to accommodatethe coupler shank; The side walls 27 are suitably thickened,v as indicated in Figure 2, to provide the necessarybearing for the couplerkey 1 4. and the inner surfaces of said .walls are outwardly flared as indicated at 127,1to permit lateral'motionof the coupler D. .The top andbottomfwalls29 and28 are dis- .posedatthe outer en'dlof the yoke and extend jto points substantially in line with the usual -friction shock-Q absorbing device indicated the horizontal typepas behorn of the coupler, the top wall 29 having a vertically extending flange 30 and the bottom wall 28 a depending flange 31. The upper flange 30 normally bears against the horn of the coupler and is adapted to engage the buffer plate 17 upon extreme buff movement. The side walls 27 are extended downwardly on each side of the yoke by means of vertical flanges 3232, the lower edges of the latter riding upon and being supported by the lower wall 22 of the stop casting C. In this manner, the horizontal yoke is supported in proper horizontal position at its front end and the necessary alinement of the coupler shank with the axis of the shook absorbing device is maintained. The wall 28 forms a supporting shelf for the coupler shank, at such a point that the shank portion rearwardly of the front end of the shelf together with the yoke connected thereto overbalances the weight of the coupler head. It will further be observed that in all operative positions of the parts there is no possibility of the coupler drooping or being tilted upwardly, inasmuch as the yoke A and the coupler are at all times maintained in their alined position.

The friction shock absorbing device F, as shown, comprises a rectangular combined friction shell and spring cage casting 33 with,- in which is contained the usual main spring resistance, not shown. As shown, the friction shell has friction shoes 3535 cooperating therewith and a pressure-transmitting wedge 36 cooperates with the shoes.

Referring to the front follower E, the same is of heavy, thick formation and is provided with a central opening'throughwhich the pressure-transmitting member 40 extends and is, freely movable, the pressure-transmitting member being interposed between the inner end of the coupler shank andv the front end of the wedge 36. The opening of the follower E is of smaller cross sectional ing out any invention, but the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes .and modifications that come within the scope I claim:

As an "article of manufacture, a yoke having horizontally disposed spaced side arms of the claim appended hereto.

' connected at their inner ends and enlarged verticallyat their forward ends, said enlarged portions of thearms being connected by horizontally disposed spaced top and bottom adapted to accommodate the shank of a coupler, said bottom'web being spaced above the bottom edges of said enlarged portions and providing a support, for the coupler shank, :said arms having aligned coupler key slots 'rearwardly of said bottom web, the sections of said enlarged portions projecting below said bottom web having straight horizontal bottom guide edges adapted tocooperate with a carry :iron .or the like to slidingly support the yoke for maintaining the bottom web of said box-like section at standard coupler height.

In witness thatI claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th day :of September, 1929. v

HARVEY J. -LOUNSBURY.

area than the wedge block, sothat outward 'movement of the latter will be limited byenj gagement with the inner face of said follower.

' In a buff action, the friction shell 33 is held stationary by the rear stops 12'12. As the coupler moves inwardly, the pressure-transmitting member or plunger 40 moves simultaneously therewith and directly actuatesthe wedge 36 of the friction gear, thus obtaining a compression stroke of the gear correspond- I webs, said webs together with said enlarged "portionsofthe arms defining a'box-like hood 

